The best part of brunch was having Barb join us, and the second best thing is that spaghetti and meatballs was on the menu. Both of us ordered it and it arrived piping hot, topped with extra parmesan cheese. Our waiter, Agung, made sure that we all had extra strawberry compote added to our strawberry shortcakes for dessert. He has spoiled us so much, it will make doubly hard going home.
A silent auction was held today in the atrium on deck five. Items that some of the passengers created such as things from arts and crafts and watercolor paintings were displayed for bidding. We went with Barb to check out what was happening as it was about to close at 2pm. The way this worked was if you were interested in any given item, you wrote your cabin number and bid on the slip. As the bid prices increased, those with the final high bid won that item. Also up for bidding were dinners with some of the staff and crew members in the Pinnacle Grill, and a charted map of this voyage, done by the resident artist Ben. That should draw the largest bid of all, we heard. All of the funds (100% of them) are going to a charity of the Foundation of Our Lady of the Funchal Conceiao tomorrow. Judging from the crowd that was here, we certainly expect the donation to be substantial.
The talks on the final port of Funchal were delivered by Barbara H, Lawrence Fairman, and Revell Carr. It's a fairly small island, so these talks should cover it all.
Today's movie in the Wajang was Hacksaw Ridge, recently shown in the Queen's Lounge. It will be on TV tomorrow.
This evening, we were invited to a cocktail party, the last of four, hosted by our travel agency. The earlier party was standing room only, as the majority of the guests dine at 5 or 5:30pm. Also, one of the final Captain's Dinners was held in the Pinnacle Grill tonight at 6pm. Several folks we know were invited to that. We shared one of the stand-up tables, where folks can visit as they pass by. Don McD joined us for the last ½ hour, bringing us up to date on who is coming next year. During the day, we spoke to many friends who are not coming back next year for various reasons. The main one was due to the cutbacks they have witnessed on this trip. The general feeling was that the "Grand" was gone from it. Sorry, but we have to agree.
Reports and photos kept us busy for a few hours, mixed with a couple of miles of deck walking and visiting our buddies who are doing about the same thing. The lower promenade is the perfect place to catch up on serious book reading. Sorry to admit, this has been one cruise that we have done little reading, mostly due to the fact we have not gone to the aft pool for weeks now. Too cool for sun bathing for sure.
Tomorrow's port will be the final one of this cruise for most of the passengers. For 30 of us sailing onward, we will have several more stops before ending our trip in San Francisco.
We had company tonight, since Jim and Maureen had gone to the Captain's Dinner. Our guests were Ellen and Aart, friends for several years now. They dine upstairs at a table for two, so occasionally they will join us. Tonight was fun because we asked them about their adventure to Marrakesh yesterday. They admitted it was one very long day, and were sort of glad they did it, but once was enough. Eight hours traveling in a bus had to be very difficult.
The entertainers tonight were brothers, Craig and Brian MacDonald, singing vocal harmonies with multi-instrumental talents.
Bill & Mary Ann
